Sound level exposure is a safety and preventative health concern for many environments. Exposure to extremely loud noises, even for a short period of time, can cause permanent hearing damage. Additionally, extended exposure to sound, even at modest levels, may cause hearing loss over time. In the workplace, regulatory agencies, such as the Occupational Safety and Health Administration (OSHA), the National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health (NIOSH), the United States Department of Health and Human Services, and others, set standard allowable exposure levels and require employers to monitor the sound pressure levels (SPLs) in their employees' work environment. However, extreme sound levels incurred by recreational exposure have become increasingly alarming with the prevalent use of stereo headphones and earpieces. Children and teenagers are particularly vulnerable to overexposure as they do not realize the dangers caused by excessive sound levels. Currently, there is no method to monitor sound pressure level exposure for a user of an audio communication device.
Additionally, approximately 30 million people in the United States are exposed to hazardous occupational noise each year. Fortunately, noise-induced hearing loss can be reduced or eliminated by successful application of hearing conservation programs, protective devices, and engineering controls. Currently, employers are required to measure the noise level of their employee's work environment. The exposure measurement includes continuous, intermittent, and impulsive noise within the 80 dB to 130 dB range. Each measurement must be taken in a typical work situation and the employer must provide noise suppression devices to meet a standard noise rejection rating (NPR). Additional measurements are required whenever there is a change in the work environment, such as changes in production methods, different or additional equipment, or the introduction of additional workers in the current environment.
Presently, occupational SPL monitoring is accomplished using expensive external devices and the measurements are taken sporadically. Under typical circumstances, a person (e.g., employee or member of a company's occupational safety group) physically performs the measurement at a given time and place, using a dedicated monitoring device. However, noise levels in a given environment are not constant and will often change during the course of the day or from one point in the workplace to another. As a result, existing SPL monitoring schemes are not able to capture SPL exposure for a given individual on a continuous or regular basis. Additionally, certain employees may be encountering higher noise levels than others because they work different shifts or handle different tools. Therefore, even if an employer is complying with regulatory guidelines with respect to employee SPL exposure, certain employees may still be routinely exposed to dangerous levels of noise.
Therefore, a need exists for, among other things, a method for autonomously monitoring and reporting sound pressure level exposure that overcomes the shortcomings of the prior art.